‘I’m Nonchalant.’ The Other Side of Flap

“I’M NONCHALANT.” 

David Charles “Flap” Canon, the MPL’s resident firecracker, hyperactive herald of chaos, and high-octane human rocket, describes himself as “nonchalant.”

“Pano ka naging nonchalant!” (“How the heck could you say you’re nonchalant!”) we asked him with an accusatory tone. 

Inside the boot camp, the boys would frequently wrestle each other, Flap as the instigator.

We’ve caught him on several occasions trapping his teammates in a headlock until they tapped out, his jaw clenched in excitement. He describes it as one of his love languages: physical touch. 

“Iyon ang bonding namin! Araw-araw yata may quality time kami, eh! Saka physical touch na rin eh. Sobrang clingy ko kasi, eh!” Flap tells ALL-STAR. 

(“That’s how we bond! We spend quality time with each other every day! And we engage physical touch. I’m too clingy!”)

“Why are you clingy?” we asked Flap.

“Wala lang! Parang every time, sina Marco, Hadji, Dad (Owgwen), Ferdz, kapag hina-hug ko sila, gumagaan pakiramdam ko.”

(“I’m not sure! But every time I hug Marco, Hadji, Owgwen, and Ferds, I feel lighter.”)

When testosterone levels settle back to normal and Flap finds himself alone, he becomes, as what he describes, nonchalant.

“Nonchalant ako kapag mag-isa lang ako. Wala akong ginagawa, tahimik lang talaga ako kapag mag-isa lang ako.”

(“I’m nonchalant when I’m alone. I don’t do anything, I just keep silent when I’m alone.”)

Jab Escutin, Team Falcons’ Southeast Asia general manager, shared how Flap has a serious side to him. “When you talk to him, he’s really serious. He can be serious when the moment calls for it.”

We’ve always wondered about the other side of Flap, the one only privy to himself. For the first time, he talks about that side of him. 

“I’ve matured through the years,” Flap tells ALL-STAR. “Not just in the game, but also outside the game.”

The veil of theatrics was slowly lifting. 

“Ang dami kong natutuhan through the years. Knowing na nasa pro scene ako, parang wala akong ibang pwedeng gawin kundi maglaro. So inu–upscale ko rin yung knowledge ko outside the game,” he added. 

Nobody learns without falling down. Nobody grows up without first confronting their own immaturity.

“So what were the biggest mistakes that you’ve learned from?” we asked Flap. 

Ego. Stubbornness. The careless decisions of youth. He names none of them.

“Sobrang rollercoaster ng mga natutuhan ko. Sobrang dami ko talagang natutuhan…”

“Ang pinaka nire-regret ko lang talaga ay yung mga past losses namin, I could have done better.”

(“My biggest regrets are our past losses.”)

He circles back to one in particular: MSC 2024 in Riyadh, where they fell to Malaysia’s Selangor Red Giants.

“Sobrang devastated ako noon. Doon ako nadurog nang sobra. Nilalag kami ng SRG.”

(I was very devastated at that time. I was in pieces. SRG eliminated us.”)

That loss stayed with him. In it, he found the beginnings of maturity: sacrifice, coachability, and the discipline of picking himself up again.

After a moment of reflection, Flap talked about his biggest dream, which manifested as a prophetic vision of sorts. 

Flap’s Prophetic Dream

“Araw-araw ko siya napapanaginipan,” said Flap. “Paulit-ulit lang.” (“I kept dreaming about it every day. It was a recurring dream.”)

In that dream, Flap saw himself repeatedly coming up on a stage in an arena filled with people. He was receiving a gold medal because he was a champion in MLBB esports. 

So he started envisioning and manifesting that recurring dream. 

“Yung dream ko talaga dati pa since hindi pa ako pro, gusto ko talaga maka-experience ng championship. Araw-araw ko siya napapanaginipan, araw-araw ko mina-manifest na umaakyat ako sa stage tapos sinasabitan ako ng medal dahil champion ako,” said Flap. 

“Yung dream ko talaga dati pa since hindi pa ako pro, gusto ko talaga maka-experience ng championship,” he added. 

That prophetic dream came true in 2021 when BREN Esports won the M2 World Championship, marking the start of Filipino dominance in MLBB esports. 

But it was also a peak he was not prepared to stumble down from. The so-called “champion’s curse” after the M2 World Championship became one of the hardest downfalls he experienced in his career. BREN stagnated into mediocrity, and for six seasons, Flap and his teammates suffered continuous defeats and non-appearances in MPL grand finals. They slowly faded into obscurity. 

His former teammate Angelo Kyle Arcangel, aka Pheww, likened themselves to gods. 

“After we won M2, we felt like gods. We thought we were so strong, that’s why other teams caught up to us, we failed to focus on improving,” Pheww told ALL-STAR. 

Flap owned up to his shortcomings

“Sobrang confident tapos nagkasitamaran na,” Flap added. (“We were so confident, we became lazy.”)

That dry spell ended in 2023 after Flap and his teammates won the M5 World Championship. 

Flap has come a long way since then and is a different person two world championships and many losses later. 

“Nagiging serious po ako pagdating sa game at kapag nararamdaman ko na yung atmosphere is hindi ako pwedeng magbiro.”

(“I become serious when it comes to the game and whenever I feel like the atmosphere demands being serious.”) 

He no longer lets his emotions get the better of him. 

“May mga times din na nakikipag argue ako kasi feel ko hindi tama ang isang bagay pero after that, nagso-sorry rin ako sa kanila sa naging behavior ko,” says Flap. “Sinasabi kong sorry dahil sumagot ako, alam ko na yung mga mistakes ko at hindi na mauulit iyon.”

(“There are times when I argue with them because I feel like something’s not right. But after that, I apologize to my team for my behavior and for answering back. I tell them I was wrong and it wouldn’t happen again.”)

‘I want to experience the feeling of winning all over again.’

But something hasn’t changed. He still keeps dreaming about championships. 

“Parang mas gusto ko pa,” said Flap. (“I want more.”)

Because the feeling was ineffable. 

“Gusto ko maulit yung feeling kasi sobrang saya niya. Noong nakapag champion ako, iniisip ko after na gusto ko pa! Gusto ko pa maranasan yung ganitong feeling. Feel ko hindi siya nag-change. I just want more.”

(“I want to experience the feeling of winning all over again. When I became a champion, I kept thinking I want more of it. I still want to experience that feeling. That hasn’t changed. I just want more.”)

“Takot ka bang malaos?” we asked Flap.

(“Are you afraid of becoming irrelevant?”)

“Hindi naman.” (“Not really.”)

Something shifted in Flap’s expression. It wasn’t nonchalant defiance. Of expectations, pressure, and doubt. 

“Hindi siya sumagi sa isip ko na malaos kasi sobrang dami ko na rin na napatunayan sa sarili ko. Kaya para sa akin, if ever man na sabihin ng ibang tao na laos ako, wala akong paki.”

(“It never crossed my mind that I would be irrelevant because I’ve already proven a lot of things to myself, and if people say I’m irrelevant, I don’t care.”)

“Hangga’t nandito pa ako sa scene at hangga’t may chance pa kaming makalusot, I will still take the chance no matter how small.”

(“As long as I’m here in the professional scene and as long as there’s a chance to keep winning, I will still take the chance, no matter how small.”) 

He recalled all the near misses and seemingly desperate situations Team Falcons has been through in the past season. 

“Never sumagi sa isip ko na laglag na kami at wala nang patutunguhan ito. Kahit puro talo kami, never sumagi sa isip ko. Gusto kong bumangon talaga at bumawi palagi.”

(“It never crossed my mind that we would be eliminated or that it’s pointless to keep fighting even though we suffered defeat so many times. I will always bounce back and keep fighting.”)

There’s a place Flap returns to when the noise dies down. He calls it nonchalance. You see it in the way he reaches out to people, in the way he keeps dreaming the same dream, in the way he refuses to let a loss be the last word.

Maybe that’s not nonchalance at all.

Maybe Flap has learned to carry the fire without letting it burn everything.

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